Chapter 170: A Game of Chess
Before Gu Huaizhi came, he had already prepared to be embarrassed by Jiang Lao.
Except for rejecting him at the beginning, he easily agreed to his request.
Gu Huaizhi didn't think that he was giving gifts to please Jiang Lao, so he asked Jiang Lao to let him go.
This Nine Elders Picture and Duan Inkstone were nothing more than a reason for Jiang Lao to let him into the Jiang Mansion.
He raised his eyes and looked at Su Wan.
Su Wan blinked at him. She said that she would change a teacher and not ask Jiang Lao for help. Only half of it was true.
Jiang Lao had a weird temper. It was clear that he had already forgiven Gu Huaizhi in his heart, but he was still a little angry.
Gu Huaizhi wanted to ask him to teach Gu Jingyun and Gu Baozhu, but he was afraid that he would be embarrassed by him.
Su Wan took the opportunity to ask Xie Wuya to teach Gu Jingyun. Jiang Lao didn't know Gu Jingyun's true identity, so he would definitely believe her. Jiang Lao cherished talents very much. Gu Jingyun's performance in Xihe Academy was extremely outstanding, and he must have heard about it.
If Old Man Jiang sincerely wants to repair the teacher-student relationship with Gu Huaizhi, this is an opportunity for the two of them.
With her words in front of him, how could Old Man Jiang make things difficult for Gu Huaizhi again?
Gu Huaizhi waved to the two people: "Come and become my disciples."
Gu Jingyun and Gu Baozhu knelt on the ground and kowtowed.
Su Wan handed tea to the two of them.
Gu Jingyun and Gu Baozhu took the teacup and presented it to Old Man Jiang respectfully.
Old Man Jiang took the tea and took a sip.
Jiang Bo gave Gu Jingyun and Gu Baozhu the four treasures of the study that he had prepared long ago.
It was considered as becoming my disciples.
Old man Jiang was still narrow-minded and remembered Su Wan's account: "Didn't you say that you would ask Xie Wuya to teach them? Why did you let them worship me as their master without stopping them?"
Su Wan said calmly: "The six arts of a gentleman are etiquette, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics. You teach them two arts and mathematics, Mr. Xie teaches etiquette and music, and then ask General Zhao to teach riding and archery. There is no conflict."
Old man Jiang was choked with anger. He was actually tricked!
"Come here, I have something to tell you."
Old man Jiang got up and went to the study.
Gu Huaizhi followed him.
Jiang Bo said: "Madam Gu, do you want to go for a walk in the backyard?"
"No, take me to the kitchen, I will make lunch for Mr. Jiang."
As soon as they met, Mr. Jiang mentioned her cooking skills, and it was clear that he wanted her to cook.
"I'll take you there." Jiang Bo settled Gu Jingyun and Gu Baozhu, and took Su Wan to the kitchen.
The cooks were preparing the food for lunch.
Jiang Bo called the kitchen steward nanny: "Mrs. Gu is the old master's guest, so she specially came to the kitchen to cook lunch for him. You can help her." Then he said to Su Wan: "If you need anything, just tell the steward."
"Okay." Su Wan said to the steward nanny: "Does the kitchen have glutinous rice, duck, lotus root, and pork ribs?"
"Yes, yes, yes! The glutinous rice started soaking yesterday afternoon, and it has been four or five hours now." The steward nanny hurriedly took Su Wan into the kitchen, took out the ingredients she wanted, and asked: "Do you need anything else?"
"No, I will get it myself later." Su Wan determined the location of the seasoning and began to process the ingredients.
She prepared to make glutinous rice duck and lotus root and pork ribs soup and stir-fried vegetables.
Old Jiang has a weak spleen and stomach, and duck meat is easy to digest and nourishes the stomach and produces body fluids. Glutinous rice also has the effects of appetizing, benefiting the middle, and strengthening the spleen and warming the liver.
Su Wan washed the duck, keeping the skin intact, and removed the duck bones from head to legs for later use. Boil the eggs, peel them, dice the mushrooms, pork, and bamboo shoots, add the lotus seeds, and stir-fry them in a hot oil pan. The aroma is instantly stimulated. Su Wan adds salt, stirs well, puts it in a bowl to cool, mixes it with glutinous rice and peanuts, puts it into the duck's belly, and steams it in a steamer over high heat.
She cuts the lotus root and blanchs the ribs to make soup.
The cook stands aside and watches Su Wan add water to the wok, puts in the ribs, half a piece of ginger, and chives, boils it over high heat, removes all the foam, and stews it over low heat for about a quarter of an hour, then pours the lotus root, ribs, and soup into the casserole and continues to cook the soup.
"How long does it take to stew in a casserole?" The cook frowned. A casserole is not as fast as an iron pot.
"Two quarters of an hour." Su Wan saw the cook's doubts and explained, "You can't use an iron pot to stew lotus roots. The color of the soup will turn black."
The cook smiled embarrassedly.
The fresh aroma of lotus root and spareribs slowly filled the kitchen. The cook couldn't help but take a sip. The delicious aroma went straight into her lungs, making people drool.
Su Wan opened the lid at the right time and stirred with a spoon. The aroma became stronger. She took a small bowl and filled half a bowl for the cook: "Try it."
The cook swallowed her saliva, took the bowl, drank a sip of the soup, which was particularly fresh, and ate a bite of lotus root, which was fragrant and soft. Her eyes suddenly brightened, and she said vaguely: "Delicious! The old man will definitely like it!"
Su Wan smiled, took out all the ingredients, leaving only lotus root and spareribs, and added a little salt before serving.
On the other side, the glutinous rice duck was also cooked.
The moment Su Wan opened the lid of the pot, the rich aroma of various ingredients brewed for more than an hour burst out and swept the entire kitchen.
Old man Jiang and Gu Huaizhi just came over and were instantly hit by the aroma.
Old Man Jiang left Gu Huaizhi behind and rushed into the kitchen. He came to Su Wan, his eyes almost glued to the glutinous rice duck: "What did you make?"
"Glutinous rice duck." Su Wan brushed a layer of honey on it while it was still hot, heated the oil to 70%, and fried the duck in the pan until it turned tea yellow.
The oil in the pan sizzled, and the rich aroma became more and more overbearing, like a hook that hooked out the glutton in Old Man Jiang's stomach. He touched a pair of chopsticks and raised them, waiting to fork a piece to taste as soon as it came out of the pan.
Su Wan took out the oil, coated it with sesame oil and put it on a plate. Before she put it on the table, a pair of chopsticks were inserted and quickly retracted. She looked up and saw that Old Man Jiang had his mouth closed, and his face was deformed and gradually twisted due to the heat.
"..."
Su Wan was convinced.
"You eat alone, we won't fight with you." Su Wan put it on the table, washed her hands and wiped them dry, "We will go back first, and send Jingyun and Baozhu tomorrow."
Old Man Jiang waved his hand, signaling Su Wan to stop talking nonsense and leave quickly.
Su Wan and Gu Huaizhi left.
He opened his mouth and exhaled.
Su Wan looked from the window and saw that he wanted to vomit but couldn't bear to, so he swallowed it in one gulp, held a glass of water and drank it, and couldn't help laughing.
"Having an old man in the family is like having a treasure, the ancients really didn't lie to me."
Gu Huaizhi took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her forehead: "Are you tired?"
"Not bad." Su Wan didn't ask what he talked about with Old Man Jiang.
Several people took a carriage back to the mansion.
As soon as they got off the carriage, they saw a black-covered carriage parked at the door.
The doorman hurried forward and said, "Young Master, Young Lady, the Princess and Young Master Xie are here."
Su Wan was surprised: "They are here?"
She walked into the mansion quickly.
The Princess and Xie Wuya were sitting in the front hall. Gu's mother was sitting on pins and needles, not knowing how to talk to the nobles.
When Su Wan came, she was as if she had been pardoned, and hurried to greet her: "Wanwan, you are back. The distinguished guest is here to see you."
Xie Wuya stood up gracefully, bowed to Su Wan, and stated his purpose directly: "Cousin, I came to see you today to play a game of chess with you."
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Author has something to say:
Rub your hands together, babies, see you tomorrow, muah~